CAMINANDO WITH JESUS: Participating in Heaven

The Third Sunday in Easter | May 5, 2019

By the Rev. Dixon Kinser

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Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."

- John 21:1-19

In 2015, a movie came out called “90 Minutes in Heaven.” It is the story of Don Piper who, after being pronounced dead at the scene of a horrible car crash, returns to life 90 minutes later with claims of seeing heaven and many dead relatives who were there. The film is based on the New York Times bestselling book of the same name, which has been translated into 46 languages and sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. In fact, a cursory search of Amazon turns up countless similar titles: Flight to Heaven, My Journey to Heaven, I Saw God, and, not to leave out the other side out of things, 23 Minutes in Hell.

Clearly there is an appetite in the modern world for news of the afterlife and windows into heaven. People are clamoring for assurances of what is to come, and this hunger in the zeitgeist seems like it should be a great evangelistic focus for the church. Except there is one problem: Jesus does not seem interested in this conversation at all.

Sunday’s Gospel lesson from John (21:1-19) gives us one of Jesus’ several post-resurrection appearances. This particular episode is full of colorful details, many providing redemptive callbacks to earlier vignettes from the Gospel: disciples in a boat, charcoal fires, fish, bread and those three questions Jesus asks Peter. (Though I must say that the most colorful detail, Peter’s nakedness, is a sermon for another time!)

However, in all of it one thing is clear: Jesus is focused on positioning his disciples for gospel work in the present day. After being dead for far longer than 90 minutes, Jesus says nothing to his disciples about the nature of the afterlife, who was there or what God looks like (hint: partly because they are looking at him). These topics are not on the radar for Jesus because the energy of the God’s new creation has always been about this place and space. That is because this is the place and space that is being made new (Rev 21:1-4).

I always find this helpful because it crystallizes part of what Jesus means when he says “follow me” in [John chapter 21] verse 19. If God is healing this world and history is going somewhere good, following Jesus is about how we get onboard with that work. We are invited as his disciples to be resurrection horticulturalists, looking for, tending to and cultivating new creation everywhere we find it.

What does that mean for you? What is the gift you have to give that will expand love in our world? What energy do you have to promote justice and honor the dignity of every human being? How are you uniquely resourced to serve in your neighborhood like no one else is? Answering these questions help us make God’s future world a present reality. It puts us in touch with Jesus’ invitation to pray that God’s kingdom and will be done here “on earth as it is in heaven.” It also means that the way of heaven is something we get to spend our whole lives participating in and not just 90 minutes.

The Rev. Dixon Kinser is the rector of St. Paul's, Winston-Salem.